


it's nice to have a friend

by inevitabletony



Series: Lover [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: College, Friends to Lovers, High School, M/M, Middle School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 07:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20792891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inevitabletony/pseuds/inevitabletony
Summary: In middle school, they are friends, in high school, they aresomething, and in college, they are something more.





	it's nice to have a friend

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a quick fic I wrote based on the song It's Nice to Have a Friend. Each time period is based around a specific verse of the song.

** _Middle School_ **

“Hey, Eds! Wait up!” Eddie turned to see Richie running up to him, “Everyone’s heading to the clubhouse,” Richie said once he caught up, breathing heavy, “And you’re going in the wrong direction, dumbass.”

“I can’t go,” Eddie said, disappointment clear in his voice, “My mom said I had to be home right after school today.”

“That’s bullshit! It’s fucking snowing!” Richie exclaimed, “It’s snowball fight time! You’re on my team, how am I gonna win if it’s just me and Stan. We are gonna get fucking reamed, dude.”

“I mean, it probably is better with an even split of people for teams now,” Eddie shrugged, ignoring the face Richie pulled in response, “I’m just happy she didn’t pull me out of school like she was thinking about after all that shit that happened last summer.”

“Ugh, your mother makes it extremely hard to fuck her sometimes,” Richie groaned, starting to walk in Eddie’s original direction, “Like- how am I gonna get it up tonight, knowing she ruined a perfectly good snowball fight, huh?”

“Don’t be gross,” Eddie shoved Richie enough to send him stumbling off the sidewalk for a moment, “And where the fuck are you going? The clubhouse is in the other direction, dumbass.”

“Why I am walking you home, Edward,” Richie said grandly in his British accent, “I am a gentleman and I cannot let you walk home in this shitty ass weather alone.”

“You don’t have to walk me home, dickwad,” Eddie said, happy the cold was a readily available excuse for his blush.

“Too late, Spaghetti,” Richie sighed, throwing an arm around Eddie’s shoulders, “Nothing you can do about it.” Eddie saw Richie’s eyes dart from Eddie’s face, down to his hands for a moment, and back to his red face, “Christ, Eds, it’s like below zero. Where the fuck are your gloves?” He asked as he pulled his off.

“I fucking forgot them,  _ mom _ , maybe get off my dick about it,” Eddie rubbed his hands together as if Richie reminded his body that it was fucking freezing.

“Must be a pretty small dick if I didn’t know I was on it,” Richie shot back without the usual jeer in his voice, “Here-” Richie suddenly shoved his gloves into Eddie’s hands, “Put these on.”

“W-what about you?” Eddie stuttered out, “You’re going to be cold!”

“Yeah, well, when I get cold then I’ll take the gloves back,” Richie grinned, “And you’ll be warmer by then.”

“I guess,” Eddie fought a smile down, looking at his feet to cover it up, putting on Richie's gloves, instantly feeling warmer, “Thanks.” He mumbled. 

“Don’t mention it,” Richie grinned at Eddie, “Do you wanna play some videogames? I can sneak in through your window, don’t wanna leave you all alone with the Wicked Witch.”

“Uh- yeah,” Eddie said flustered, “That sounds really cool. You sure you don’t want to go to the clubhouse though?” He questioned, not wanting to ruin Richie’s fun. He seemed pumped for the snowball fight now five minutes ago.

“Nah, like I said, s’not gonna be any fun without you,” Richie replied, keeping his eyes forward, avoiding eye contact.

“Alright.” Eddie nodded, “Just don’t be upset when I fucking destroy your ass in Space Invaders.”

“As if!” Richie shouted.

**____________________________**

** _High School_ **

“Let’s play truth or dare?” Richie broke the silence between them, taking a drag of his cigarette.

“No?” Eddie looked away from the setting sun, towards Richie, ”What the fuck would you even dare me to do? Jump off the roof?”

“Alright, dickface, just wanted to do something other than stare at the fucking sky, guess I’ll just fuck myself then.” Richie pulled his knees up closer to his chest.

“Don’t be so melodramatic, Rich,” Eddie rolled his eyes, “Let’s just play- I don’t fucking know- twenty questions- playing truth or dare with you is just asking to be called a pussy.”

“Maybe if you weren’t such a pussy and did some of the dares, you wouldn’t have to worry about it-”

“You dared to me to lick a doorknob,” Eddie burst out, “Do you know how much bacteria that-”

“Ok, ok, fuck, didn’t mean to unleash the Kraken, chill,” Richie held his hands up placatingly, “Twenty Questions.”

“You have to give me a prompt, ya know, to ask about,” Eddie explained after Richie didn’t elaborate.

“I have a crush on someone at school,” Richie sounded tense, “Guess who it is.”

“Oh,” Eddie felt something in his heart constrict, a deep feeling of dread settling in his stomach. He knew this crush on Richie was never going to go anywhere, but for the past few years, as Ben, Bev, Bill, Mike, and Stan had all had their first kiss and started dating, Richie had never shown any interest in a girl. Eddie knew that didn’t mean that- it didn’t mean that Richie was  _ like him _ but it was nice to pretend sometimes. It would be a lot harder to pretend if Eddie started dating some stupid girl, “Are they brunette?” He asked, unenthusiastically.

“Yeah,” Richie answered quickly. 

“Do they have green eyes?” He asked, picturing some of the cheerleaders he’s heard other boys at school talk about in the locker room.

“No.” He replied steadily.

And it went on like that. Eddie asking about some mystery girl, having no idea who she was, but hating her more and more with every detail he learned about her. She was a short brunette, with brown eyes, short hair, and super fucking smart. Or at least Richie considered her to be. It seemed like Richie considered her to be fucking perfect.

“They like Star Wars?” Eddie asked. He’s never met a girl who liked Star Wars- other than Bev but Bev was awesome- and Eddie knew anyone who didn’t like Star Wars was a fucking disgrace in his eyes. It would serve as a nice reminder to Richie that whoever this girl was she wasn’t right for him.

“Yeah,” Richie grinned, “Fucking loves it.”

“ _ Really? _ ” Eddie scoffed, wonderful, “Well, isn’t that just great.”

“Yeah, Eds,” Richie flicked what was left of his cigarette off the side of the roof, “They are fucking great.”

“Are they a girl?” Eddie tried to interject some humor into his voice, regretting the question as soon as it left his mouth.

It felt like years before Richie answered. He stared off into the distance for a while, before turning to look directly at Eddie, for the first time since they started this stupid game.

“No,” Richie finally answered, “He is not a girl.”

Eddie breathed in sharply at the answer, not expecting it in a million fucking years. It didn’t sound like a joke. Eddie considers himself a bit of a fucking expert on Richie’s jokes. He had been subjected to an absurd number of said jokes since he was nine and Eddie knew when he was hearing one of them. This was not one of them.

“Oh,” Eddie said. “Is he hot?” 

“Yeah, Eds,” Richie broke into a grin, “He’s a fuckin’ wet dream.”

“I think that was the twentieth question,” Eddie replied dumbly.

“Then take your guess, Spaghetti man.” Richie spread his arm wide in an inviting fashion, “Who in that hellhole of a school has managed to pull off the greatest heist of all time? Who has stolen my heart?” 

Eddie couldn’t get his voice to work, his own name stuck in the back of his throat, he tried to swallow down the hope, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to handle rejection if he let himself believe this was a possibility.

Richie was staring at him expectantly, his grin dimming, still present but not quite reaching his eyes. That wouldn’t do. Eddie hated when Richie faked a smile around him. He did it a lot around others. But Richie never had to fake it around Eddie. Even when he wasn’t happy, Richie allowed himself to be passive around Eddie, not needing to put on a face. 

Eddie’s hand shot out, without thinking about it, he reached out to grab Richie’s hand. He squeezed for a moment, and Richie squeezed back. The glint in his eyes returning. Eddie still didn’t say anything, and neither did Richie. But Richie shifted their hands, interlacing their fingers and rubbed his thumb over Eddie’s knuckles. 

And that was enough. 

**____________________________**

** _College_ **

“Richie! Put me down right now,” Eddie tried to squirm his way out of Richie’s arms, “Seriously, you fucking prick, if you drop me on this filthy ass floor, I’m going to punch you in the dick.”

“The only reason I would drop your skinny ass is if you keep fucking wiggling, asshole,” Richie laughed, “Edward, we’re moving into our first place together, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t carry you over the threshold?”

“We’re sharing a dorm, we didn’t buy a house,” Eddie groused, “Now let me go.”

“Alright,” Richie agreed abruptly, “Whatever you want, honeybunch.” He moved to lower Eddie onto the ground.

“Wait-” Eddie started, “Don’t actually- just walk me over the threshold and don’t be a dick about it.” He ignored Richie’s smug grin and looped both arms around his neck.

Richie walked them through the doors of their dorm, their suitcases still in the hall, and Eddie felt a rush of excitement seeing the empty space. Yeah, it was only a dorm, smaller than any space for two grown men should be, but it was theirs and he felt giddy at the thought of living with Richie. 

“Here we are,” Richie exclaimed, “Casa de Tozier-Kaspbrak.”

“I can see that, babe,” Eddie smiled as Richie put him on his feet, “Now go get our bags, we gotta unpack.”

“As you wish,” He bowed ceremoniously, “But I do have a suggestion- little tweak to your plan.” He called over his shoulder as he grabbed the bag from the hall, “Let’s not unpack,” He kicked the door closed behind him, “Let’s stay in bed.”

“Now is not the time, Richie.” Eddie replied flatly, “We’ve got that new student orientation thing in like an hour and I am way too sore from this morning for a quickie-”

“Not what I meant,” Richie cut him off, waving his hands back a forth, with a laugh, “I want to cuddle, you heathen.”

“Whatever,” Eddie punched Richie in the shoulder, “That sounds nice, actually, I’m fucking exhausted.”

“Hell yeah, baby, cuddle me up, bitch,” He jumped onto his back into the bed, throwing both hands behind his head, kicking off his shoes.

“The romance of this all is killing me,” Eddie toed his own shoes off, “I really don’t know how I’ve survived all these years of the sheer force of your love.”

Richie only hummed in response as Eddie crawled into the twin-sized bed next to him, resting his head on Richie’s chest. Eddie began to drift in a matter of second, feeling the past week of packing up his entire life and flying to California hit him all at once. It was nice though, feeling more at home in Richie’s arm than he ever did at his mother’s house. 

**Author's Note:**

> eddie has never met a girl who has liked star wars other than bev because eddie has never talked to a girl other than bev thats canon


End file.
